Why you'll never have to wait in line at the pharmacy again

Getty Images If you've ever picked up prescription medication from the pharmacy and found the experience frustrating, you're far from alone.

Nearly half of Americans have taken prescription medication in the past 30 days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But for many, dealing with doctors, insurance companies, and pharmacies can be overwhelming. Medical practitioners practically speak a different language, and consumers are forced to bear the burden of managing their multiple prescriptions. This leads as many as 20% of consumers not filling their prescriptions, and that has financial ramifications: Medication non-adherence drives between $100 billion and $300 billion in unnecessary medical costs each year.

The process can be annoying, expensive, and confusing. Not only do you have to take the time to pick up your prescriptions but you may also face long wait times or, worse, have to go back or search elsewhere if your medication isn't in stock — a problem that affects 40% of customers.

This complicated landscape has left many consumers looking for an alternative. Fortunately, one company is providing an answer.

A seamless way to refill

"Our customers appreciate the convenience of having their monthly medications delivered for free," says Deepak Thomas, founder and CEO of Phil. "However, the real reason they love us is because we do the heavy lifting of coordinating with insurance and doctors on their behalf."

When patients sign up to use Phil, refilling prescriptions becomes as simple as waiting for them to arrive at their door — literally. Using its proprietary software, Phil coordinates directly with local pharmacies to do all the heavy lifting — filling out paperwork, troubleshooting with doctors and insurance companies, and managing each prescription that a patient needs.

All patients need to do is simply wait for their pharmacy to deliver their medications each month, and on time.

Through its desktop and mobile website, Phil gives customers the power to schedule refills whenever they like, manage prescriptions for their entire family, including aging parents, and quickly chat with pharmacy staff, while removing all of the usual frustration. It's the convenience of Uber meeting the reliability of a utility (there's a guarantee your prescriptions won't run out), and for patients it's essentially free: You pay nothing more than your usual copay and delivery is free.

Plus, Phil works only with top-rated local pharmacies, driving new business to those who make great customer service a priority. "Our goal is not only to simplify filling prescriptions, but to help small businesses that are rooted in the communities that they serve. The highest-rated pharmacies in most communities are often independently-owned," says Thomas.

A growing prescription for convenience

The idea has struck a nerve and led Phil to become one of the fastest-growing healthcare startups. In three months, the 25-employee company scaled from serving one state, California, with just a handful of pharmacy partners, to 18 states, covering two-thirds of the US population.

Today, Phil has filled prescriptions from more than 5,000 doctors, teamed up with more than 40 pharmacies, and expects to cover more than 90% the national population by the end of June.

It's not just patients and pharmacies who are noticing. Phil recently raised $12 million in venture-capital funding from investors who previously backed companies such as Airbnb, Warby Parker, and Jet.com.

With founders who have experience from some of the biggest tech companies in Silicon Valley, we may see the day when the frustrations of filling prescriptions are a thing of the past.